A Hawkeyes game, not the Hawks: Heather Cox Richardson on Jack Smith's hearing
Her Tuesday Politics Chat walked through a perjury claim built on text messages about an Iowa basketball game, then moved on to diesel prices and withheld funds.
Heather Cox RichardsonStory of Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.
Politics Chat, September 29, 2026
Among political channels close to her size, Heather Cox Richardson gathered the second most views of the week, about seven million, with only Breezy Politics drawing more. Her daily pace is still running well below its usual level, but fifteen uploads kept the channel busy.
The week turned on Jack Smith. In Tuesday's Politics Chat, the historian took her viewers through the former special counsel's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Chuck Grassley, and the perjury accusation from Missouri senator Eric Schmidt over a supposed February 2024 trip to Atlanta. As the description lays it out, the claim leaned on texts about a Hawkeyes game, which turned out to be an Iowa basketball game Smith attended in Maryland, not the Atlanta Hawks. She returned to it in a separate explainer, "The Fake Jack Smith Controversy."
The same chat ranged over rising diesel prices, a voluntary AI safety accord and Russell Vought withholding money Congress had already approved. In the comments, viewers write in from Canada, New Zealand and Poland, and several urge everyone to check their voter registration.
Friday's chat was a quick drop-in, with her promise to be back on Tuesday as usual, and it is the video moving fastest right now.
Published on Trari
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The videos drawing views on Heather Cox Richardson right now
Today in Politics | Explainer515,181 views · 2026-09-30
Politics Chat, October 2, 2026295,950 views · 2026-10-02
Today’s Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing With Jack Smith | Explainer206,713 views · 2026-09-30
The Fake Jack Smith Controversy187,795 views · 2026-09-30
Why Republican Supporters Are Losing Faith in Trump | Explainer181,047 views · 2026-09-30
An Immediate Calamity85,576 views
- Channel
- Heather Cox Richardson
- Subscribers
- 1,100,000 ▲ 10,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 7,072,875
- Videos published this week
- 15
- Video published
- September 29, 2026
- Video views so far
- 742,102
- Views on its first day
- 483,749
The numbers
Here is how Heather Cox Richardson's channel moved over the past seven days.
💡 Test your knowledge
The Hawkeyes, the team behind the text messages in the Jack Smith hearing, play for which university?
The Hawkeyes are the athletic teams of the University of Iowa in Iowa City.
